Dating on the DL: A Miraculous Ladybug Tale
by Lady Syrinx
Summary: When Adrien seeks Marinette's help with his love life she is disappointed. Until she finds out that his crush is on Ladybug, that is.
1. Chapter 1: Adrien's Crush

The bell rang and tired students all but leapt from their seats around her, streaming for the door and home and a break from the preparation for the semester's upcoming finals.

Marinette put her books away with a sigh. Her responsibilities as Ladybug had been weighing on her heavily with finals coming up and a million other projects for Jagged Stone, Kitty Section, and her own designing, nothing to say of the huge research paper in French History. A paper whose instructions she had missed when XY had gotten akumatized after an unfavorable reception of his newest album and she'd had to "run to the bathroom" for the rest of the class period. It was a miracle she hadn't been suspended or expelled with how many times she'd just disappeared from school.

She tried not to resent her Ladybug duties as she tiredly pulled herself to her feet—after all, she loved helping people and swinging around Paris with superpowers was amazing. But the responsibilities had caused her grades to drop, something her parents luckily attributed to her increasingly busy designing schedule. She couldn't help but feel she deserved some little reward for her hard work—after all, she spent a ton of time saving people, nothing to say of the painful injuries that she had to fight through each time. Being thrown around Paris came with consequences, even if she was healed by Miraculous Ladybug. She needed a break, or a reward, or something to make things feel a little easier. She grabbed her bag off her desk.

"Hey Marinette!" The familiar, sweet voice of Adrien said to her. She about jumped out of her skin and dropped her bag that she'd been about to put over her shoulders. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he apologized, helping her pick up a couple spilled books.

"Fine, you're so fine, I mean, it's fine, not that you aren't fine, but…um…" Marinette said hurriedly. She could have slapped herself. What was she even babbling on about? "Did something you need? I mean, you need something?" she asked, trying to pull herself together. The sight of her beautiful, sweet crush after a draining day was not helping her form sentences.

"Oh, um, yes, actually I was wondering if you could give me some advice?" Adrien asked, looking up at her from under his lashes with his beautiful emerald eyes. Her heart stuttered, then raced. Like anyone could say no to that look. Not that she wanted to anyway.

"Of course," Marinette said. "Anything for you!" She blushed slightly as she realized what she'd said. "I mean, because you're a friend and that's what friends do, you know, help each other. And stuff." She forced herself to stop babbling. He was going to change his mind if she didn't get it together.

"Great, thank you," he said, eyes showing clear relief. Marinette's heart melted a bit at the look. Oh that she could always make him look so happy! To relieve him from his horrible father and busy life.

Marinette shifted on her feet awkwardly for a moment. "Where…?" she asked, not sure if he wanted to stay there or go elsewhere.

"Um, could we just talk here? It's empty and I kind of don't want Lila or someone spying. The last thing I need is someone overhearing and putting it all over social media. That would be embarrassing!" Adrien explained. Marinette squeaked in agreement as she thought of the time she had foolishly let Jagged Stone film a TV show in her bakery, which ended up in all of Paris seeing her collage of Adrien pictures. She definitely didn't want her true love to suffer that kind of humiliation!

"Sure," Marinette said, sitting back down at her wooden desk. Adrien walked around it to sit on its bench beside her. He sat there uncomfortably for a moment, toying with a metal ring on his finger. Marinette looked at the ring as he did so. It was something she hadn't really noticed much before. But it seemed familiar….was he wearing it in his photoshoots? She couldn't quite remember. She'd been too focused on his beautiful face.

"So, I have a crush on this girl, but she never seems to… um… well, I want to win her over, but I can't seem to figure out how. I don't think she's too interested," he said, blushing and looking down. Marinette's jaw about dropped and she barely caught her gasp of surprise before it escaped her lips. Someone wasn't interested in the most beautiful, wonderful, kind, gentlemanly (and did she mention beautiful?) boy in Paris, maybe in the world? They'd have to be insane! Who was this stupid girl? She'd give anything to be her! It killed her that she knew the girl he loved was someone else.

"Oh, wow. Um, can I ask who it is?" she questioned hesitantly. "It might help me figure out how to help you better." Ugh, this was going to be the Kagami incident all over again!

Adrien blushed more deeply, eyes focused on the ring on his finger as he twisted it around. "Um, OK, but please promise not to laugh?" he asked awkwardly. Marinette looked at him for a moment, meeting his eyes as he looked up with vulnerability all over his face. Laughing was definitely far away from her mind as she had yet _another_ conversation with her crush about girls he was interested in that were _not _her.

"I would never laugh at you Adrien," she promised sincerely. "Especially not about who you love."

Adrien smiled at her, a sweet, affectionate smile that made her cheeks burn. If only that smile meant more than friendship…. Adrien looked away, smiling shyly at some memory.

"Well, you see, I, um, I'm in love with Ladybug…" Adrien drifted off as Marinette gasped, her eyes shining brightly. _Ladybug?!_ She was competing with _herself_ for her true love's affection? Suddenly being Ladybug didn't seem like a sacrifice at all. Not even a little bit. Her exhaustion seemed to melt away as it was replaced with happiness. All the days of staying up late to finish projects she otherwise could have done during Akuma attacks didn't even matter. Not if it meant Adrien was in love with her! She could sing from the rooftops in joy! And perhaps she would do just that if she had a chance to transform later that day.

"You think it's stupid, don't you," Adrien said, his face falling. Marinette looked at him in shock, just to realize that she hadn't said anything in response to his confession.

"No, no, not at all! Not even a little bit! I think it's wonderful and romantic! In fact, you should tell Ladybug exactly how you feel! As soon as possible! Well, maybe not during an Akuma attack because that could be dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt, but outside of those as soon as you can! You would be perfect together!" She said enthusiastically, grinning so wide she wasn't sure how it still fit on her face. The look of shock on his face clearly said this was _not _the response he had been expecting.

"You, you really think so?" He asked hopefully. "You don't think it's stupid?"

"What? Of course not! Why would I think that?" Marinette demanded.

"Well, I mean, she's the savior of Paris and I'm just a stupid fashion model. She's kind and beautiful and cares about everyone and kicks evil's butt! I'm not much in comparison," he said, looking down sadly. Marinette felt her cheeks blush at the compliments and was grateful he wasn't looking at her. Marinette blushing at compliments to Ladybug would not make sense to anyone else.

"Adrien Agreste, you are amazing and Ladybug sees, I mean, I'm sure Ladybug can see that, or will when you talk to her, or whatever! I'm absolutely positive she will be ecstatic to find out someone as amazing as you is in love with her!" Marinette said resolutely. Ecstatic was an understatement. Adrien perked up at that.

"So you don't think she'll just turn me down? I mean, she does that to Cat Noir all the time, and he helps her save Paris on a daily basis," Adrien said hesitantly. "Surely if he doesn't have a chance, neither do I."

It took all of her self-control not to scream in frustration or roll her eyes. She had turned down Cat Noir _for him_! But she couldn't exactly tell him that. Marinette was not supposed to know these things about Ladybug. "Adrien, you are the kindest, sweetest person in the whole world! Cat Noir is great at saving the city, but you're a different kind of awesome. The kind that is there for his friends and stays positive even when life gets hard. The kind who gives his umbrella to a stranger in a rainstorm and takes gum off of people's seats when bullies are trying to get them. Don't sell yourself so short!"

"I don't know, it would be awkward if I said something and she just straight rejected me. Or what if she just blew me off or something? What if she has no idea who I even am?" Adrien said worriedly.

Marinette wished desperately that she could just tell him she knew Ladybug wouldn't reject him, but she simply couldn't, and not just because Tikki might kill her in her sleep if she did. She wracked her brains for a way around the conundrum. Aha! She had it! "Well, you are pretty famous. I'm sure she knows who you are—your face is plastered all over the city. Hey, who knows? Maybe Ladybug is one of _your_ admirers, just like you're one of _hers._" There!

"You really think that might be the case?" Adrien asked hopefully.

"Yes. Even if it wasn't, you said one of the things you admired about her was her kindness. So I'm sure whatever happens, you'll feel better afterwards. Right?" Marinette asked.

Adrien smiled brightly. "You're right Marinette! Thanks for talking to me, you always give the best advice! If you ever need anything, just let me know, OK?" Adrien said, looking at her.

"OK," she agreed, a bright smile on her face as a blush spread across her cheeks yet again. At this rate they would never stop being red.

Adrien skipped off happily and Marinette sat there, thinking. She had some plans to make—Ladybug needed to have a reason to go somewhere Adrien Agreste would be.

As soon as Adrien disappeared Tikki popped out of Marinette's bag. "Marinette, you need to be careful! Anyone close to Ladybug is in danger!" she warned.

"I know Tikki. I'll be careful. But that doesn't mean I can't come across Adrien as Ladybug too," she said, an excited smile on her face.

"Being a superhero isn't about your own personal gain," Tikki warned her.

"Yeah, but this isn't just about me. Think how happy it will make _Adrien_," Marinette countered.

Tikki sighed. "This is a dangerous game, Marinette. Be careful or you and the person you love will get hurt!"

"Of course, I know being careful comes first! I'll make sure there's no way anyone but Adrien knows we like each other. But if he's in love with Ladybug, he's certainly not a danger to her. It'll be fine! No, it will be more than fine! It will be wonderful! We can get married and have our hamster and three kids…" Marinette's eyes glazed over as she slipped into a daydream.

Tikki didn't look entirely convinced, but she let it drop as Marinette shook herself out of the daydream and opened her bag for Tikki to fly back in. Standing and putting her backpack on, Marinette headed home, feeling like she was walking on sunshine the whole way there.

Author's note: Special thanks to sidsinning on Tumblr for letting me use their drawing for the cover. Check out the original post of it here: post/182515389596/ladrien-needs-more-appreciation-tbh


	2. Chapter 2: Plan Number 1

The best laid plans of Marinette may not be enough to get her as Ladybug and Adrien in the same place at the same time….

Looking at her diary Marinette frowned. Operation "Happen across Adrien as Ladybug" needed a plan. One she was going to come up with this very moment so that true love could prevail. Except she was struggling coming up with ideas. The news that Adrien had a crush on her alter ego kept distracting her.

"Hey Tikki, do you have any ideas?" Marinette asked.

"I still think all of this is a bad idea," Tikki said, floating in her face.

"I told you I'll be careful," Marinette insisted.

Tikki gave her a bit of a frown. "Well, just make sure whatever you do you don't do anything out of the ordinary for Ladybug. So don't just randomly drop in or something," Tikki warned, then floated away.

Marinette sighed. She was on her own then.

Picking up her pen again and looking down at the page, she began writing.

_Plan 1: _

_Wait by his next photoshoot until a Ladybug-level emergency happened and after saving whoever swing through the park after "on her way home". _

It would give Adrien a chance to get her attention and be completely normal for Ladybug.

Wait, no. That wouldn't work. What if there was no emergency? Then Adrien might notice she, Marinette, was at all his photoshoots, and he might think she was stalking him and then he might be creeped out and get a restraining order and then they couldn't be friends _and _he wouldn't confess his love to Ladybug and then what would happen to their hamster? No, she couldn't go with Plan 1.

Sighing to herself, she tried again.

_Plan 2:_

_Swing by wherever he is after an akuma attack, as if on her way home. She could wave casually at them, which is normal for Ladybug to do when people notice her. _

Yeah, that should work. Assuming she finished up quickly enough for her to have time to talk to him before her transformation ran out. She could do that, she'd just need an akuma attack at a time when she knew where Adrien was. As long as she checked her own, pull-down schedule each morning for times when she knew what Adrien was up to, she should be fine.

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Adrien sat at his desk, pen in his mouth as he thought about Marinette's advice. He'd never really considered confessing his love to Ladybug as Adrien before. Ladybug didn't know him very well, at least as far as he knew. Plus they rarely saw each other that way because he was Cat Noir. But maybe it would make a difference. Who knew? It couldn't go any worse than his attempts as Cat Noir, right?

And while Ladybug didn't know him well as Adrien, it couldn't be said she knew him well as Cat Noir either. Her insistence on making sure their identities were kept secret ensured that personal information wasn't shared. So, either way, they'd be starting from a similar place. He'd just have to be careful that he made sure nothing he did around her made her think he was Cat Noir or she'd be mad at him for sure.

He grabbed the pen out of his mouth and began writing on his notepad. He wasn't likely to get very long to talk to her, so maybe giving her a note would be the best plan. Especially since it would be hard to get her alone as Adrien.

But the words never seemed right. He was pretty sure he had torn out half his notebook as he threw out his pathetic attempts to write something that might actually get her to meet with him.

"Plagg, do you have any idea how to write a proper love note? Or at least a note that would convince Ladybug to meet with me?" Adrien finally asked. Plagg looked up at him, half a wedge of cheese sticking out of his mouth. The mischievous Kwami slowly finished the bit of cheese, making Adrien wait for him to respond.

"Not really. My true love is cheese, and it doesn't talk much," Plagg said. Helpful as ever with Adrien's love life.

"I just don't know what to say. How do I get the most amazing girl in all of Paris, no, in all the _world_ to meet with me, a random stranger?" Adrien whined.

Plagg gagged at that. "Ugh, kid, this mushiness is going to make me puke up my cheese. Besides, didn't she give you a lift back to that big fashion show a couple months ago?" Plagg asked. "So she's saved you before. Besides, your face is all over Paris. You're hardly a random stranger. Just a mushy one."

Adrien gave Plagg his very best 'excuse me?' face at that. Sighing, he turned back to his notebook. He wrote one word and was already tempted to tear it out, along with some of his hair. This was stupid, he was never going to get it right!

"Best advice I can give you is keep it simple. The simpler it is, the less likely there can be a miscommunication. You can save your mushiness for if she meets with you—and trust me, you have plenty of that so once she's there you should be fine," Plagg advised.

Adrien sighed. It seemed so lackluster, but he supposed that it would work. He thought over his schedule, trying to figure out a time that he could get away from his body guard for a minute. Maybe Marinette could help him? It had been her idea, after all. Yes, he was sure she would help him get away for long enough to meet with Ladybug if he came up with a time that he wasn't scheduled for something else. Though that would be a nightmare all its own.

Writing down a time the following week he put the note in his pocket. Now he just needed to find a good time to give it to her.

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"Pound it!" Ladybug said, bumping her fist to Cat Noir's. She still had four dots left on her earrings. And she knew Adrien was at a photoshoot just down the road.

A few reporters walked over excitedly. No, she didn't have time to deal with them right now! She needed to swing over Adrien's photoshoot!

"Sorry kitty, can you handle the press? I need to get going," Ladybug explained. Her partner looked a bit surprised but nodded. Ladybug smiled at him then swung away.

She reached the park in no time. She still had over three minutes before she transformed back. Perfect! However, when she reached the park there was no Adrien in sight. She waited for a minute before the photographer noticed her. He waved and put up his camera to grab a shot of her. She posed for him, something she sometimes did when she noticed someone getting a picture of her. But there was no Adrien and she had to go. Sighing she swung away. Next time, she was sure!

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Adrien ran around the corner back into sight, as if from where the Gorilla had hidden him. The press had been particularly difficult to shake off this time and he had been surprised when Ladybug had left him to handle it by himself. He wondered where she had to get to in such a hurry.

When he arrived back at the photoshoot everyone was gathered around Vincent, who was showing them something excitedly.

"Hey, what's going on?" Adrien asked curiously.

"Oh, you just missed it! Ladybug swung by on her way from the Akuma attack. Even paused to let me get a photo!" Vincent said excitedly.

"Really? She came back by here?" Adrien asked, frustrated. She had come by and he had _just _missed her! Seriously? And hadn't she said she was in a hurry? Yet she stopped to let Vincent take a picture of her. He supposed that was the kind of nice thing Ladybug did, but it was still frustrating. Why had she left him so quickly? He hoped she wasn't mad at him.

Next time. Next time hopefully he could get away sooner and maybe, just maybe, get a chance to give her his note.

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Two weeks. Two weeks of slipping away from akuma attacks quickly to try to go by where Adrien would be, just for him to be nowhere in sight. She'd even sneakily walked around where he was supposed to be a bit, trying to happen upon him.

No such luck. Wherever the Gorilla hid him during akuma attacks was very effective. If she couldn't even find him after the attacks, there was no way a crazy akuma could find him during one. And while she was glad he was safe, it meant getting close to Adrien as a result of an akuma was not going to be a possibility.

It was so frustrating! The chance to be with her true love was so close and yet here she was, two weeks of effort and nothing to show for it. She thought ladybugs were supposed to be good luck!

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Adrien flopped face first on his bed with a dramatic sigh. He'd had another long, annoying photoshoot which had been interrupted by an akuma attack.

Once again, Ladybug had left him to deal with the akuma victim, insisting she had somewhere she needed to be. And somehow, she had happened to swing right over where his photo shoot was, but minutes before he could get back. It was like his life was taunting him, placing her right where he needed her to be _seconds_ before he could get back.

Maybe black cats really were unlucky.


End file.
